Addressing the systems-based practice requirement with health policy content and educational technology

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Policy
• Systems-based Practice

Background:

• Graduate Medical Education programs increasingly emphasize Systems-based Practice competency.
• Health policy knowledge is crucial for physicians but often inadequately addressed in residency training.
• Duke University integrated health policy education into its graduate medical education curriculum.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a health policy lecture series for residents and fellows.
• To assess participant satisfaction and learning outcomes with different content delivery formats.
• To determine the optimal format for delivering health policy education in a graduate medical setting.

Main Methods:

• A collaborative lecture series was developed by Duke University Hospital's Office of Graduate Medical Education and Fuqua School of Business.
• Content was delivered via live lectures and web/podcasts in Year 1, transitioning to web/podcasts with quarterly live panels in Year 2.
• Data collection included lecture evaluations, focus group feedback, and pre/post-test scores from 77 participants across 8 departments.

Main Results:

• Post-test scores were equivalent between live and web/podcast participants in Year 1.
• Year 2 saw increased participation after the format shift to primarily web/podcast with live discussions.
• Participants consistently expressed a need for health policy content and valued a hybrid delivery model for flexibility and interaction.

Conclusions:

• A hybrid approach to health policy education, balancing online convenience with live interaction, is highly valued by residents and fellows.
• The lecture series successfully addressed the need for health policy education and Systems-based Practice competency.
• The program fostered valuable interdisciplinary networking among participants from various medical specialties.